Cancun ExPat.Com blog post by Terri Lane

I'm late to this party, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents...
We have been living in Cancun for 2 years now. My hubby is here year round and I get down at least once a month (yay for cheap fares).

Santander has been great for our bank. We have timed our deposits well when the exchange rate is in our favor. It was much easier getting our cell phone as well. Without a Mexican bank account, Telcel would have required a hefty deposit. So we have great cell coverage and now we can call and text to the US and Canada for free! You can always get a cheap burner phone without the visa, but you don't get the good deals at all.  

If you are going to live here full time, it is worth it to get your residency visa. Yes it is a pain in the ass to do it. They require financials, and lots of other stuff to prove that we aren't going to be on welfare here, and it is not a fast process, but in our opinion it is WELL worth it. We get discounts when we eat at restaraunts, discounts and many stores and it was much easier getting our satallite, telephone and internet. We know quite a few expats that just use their Mexican friends to sign up for all of that. They also have their vehicles in their Mexican friend's name... I love my Mexican friends but don't want to burden them with any of that. So to have the car in our name and to get a license the residency visa is a must. 

If you don't want/need a car, have no interest in owning the place in which you live, and don't want a Mexican cell phone, then just do the 180 day visa that you receive when visiting as a tourista. You must leave Mexico for a period of time but can come right back (not sure how many days are required). Like everyone else has said, in Cancun there is always at least one person that speaks English. That being said, we have found that even though we are FAR from fluent (basically beginners) in Spanish, it is far better to at least try to speak in Spanish than just to expect that someone can speak English. Just like in the States, where we believe that if you live in the States you should be able to speak English, we find the same attitude that if you want to live in Mexico you should be able to speak Spanish. Completely fair, in my opinion.

As far as how much you receive from Social Security, if you are applying for residency, they simply want to verify what you recieve. If you are not applying then it doesn't matter at all.

There are areas of El Centro that are absolutely beautiful, wonderful neighborhoods that are quiet and there is great access to all amenities. It sounds like Bassman11 is maybe living over by palapa park? That area of downtown is very busy and noisy, but there are many, many other parts of downtown that are not so. Maybe you should rent a bike and start exploring, so that you can find more areas that are less populated? Just a suggestion. 

I wish you all the best in your adventure!